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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has granted a petition for rulemaking that would require heavy trucks to be equipped with forward collision mitigation systems.

The petition was submitted by several highway safety organizations on Feb. 19, 2015.

NHTSA plans to initiate the rulemaking process, which could “establish a safety standard to require automatic forward collision avoidance and mitigation system on certain heavy vehicles.”

NHTSA has already studied such systems and said it will “continue to conduct research and to evaluate real-world performance of these systems through track testing and field operational testing.”

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has supported the petition, and recommended the mandate apply to vehicles with a GVWR of 10,001 lbs or more.

Collision mitigation systems use forward-looking radars and/or cameras to detect vehicles in the roadway and then warn the driver of a threat and/or apply the brakes if the driver doesn’t respond.